How I handle pain and how you can too

I don’t usually post twice in one day but I wanted to share this with you.

I’ve been dealing with sciatica pain for some months now. I’ve been in therapy. I’ve taken the medication. I’ve done my exercises regularly.

And yet, yesterday was the worst day yet. Ouch!!!!!!!

So yesterday morning the pain was already threatening but I decided to go to church anyway. My hubby is deer hunting at our cabin. I don’t usually like going by myself but knew I should. You can read some other posts about church attendance here.

I was glad I went.

Now, you’re probably thinking the pastor’s sermons was about pain or something, right?

It wasn’t.

It was about Revelation, my least favorite book of the Bible because I can’t read it without thinking about all the “theories” people have purported over the years about it’s “hidden” meaning and, might I add, agenda.

The book of Revelation is more hotly contested among Christians than elections.

Friendships have been terminated and churches split over the various points of view.  It’s ridiculous because no one has a clue.  Now that I’ve made some of you mad, let me continue…….

I still found the message worthwhile because the one point that IS clear from Revelation is that

God is on his throne and will reign supreme someday.

Just knowing that encouraged me the rest of the day when the pain progressed.

I had also been foolish in that I hadn’t taken my pills yesterday morning because I was hoping the paint would be minimal. But healing comes in lots of way. God provides us with doctors and medications and we are foolish not to recognize all the avenues of healing God provides for us.

( I need to add here that while it helps to look at pain from the perspective of what we can learn from it, we certainly should not see pain as something sent from God to teach us a listen. God does allow some struggles in our lives, but let’s not look at every painful experience as having some HUGE spiritual agenda that God has sent to teach us something. I believe God hates pain as much as we do. However, I recommend any book written by Paul Meier.)

So this morning, before I even got out of bed, I thanked my Heavenly Father that I was able to walk. That he will open a way for me to deal with whatever the pain level might be today:

“I WILL NOT give in to this. I WILL trust God to give me whatever I need today whenever I need it. If it’s a day I can’t accomplish anything because I’m hurting too much, I will re-direct my plans.”

When we face a day that we know will be a struggle for whatever reason, we need to purposefully and intentionally speak words of encouragement and resolve to ourselves. This is how we co-operate with God’s plans for our lives.

So whatever pain you are facing today, be it physical, mental, or emotional, trust God to equip you to do your part. Your part is to be an active participant in God’s equipping, not a bystander.

God bless and I truly hope you have a good day.